Avoiding the Ax: Where the Jobs Are

While the employment landscape looks sparse right now, the outlook for 2009 isn't uniformly bleak -- and is downright bright in some recession-resistant industries.

Employers that provide necessary products and services -- hospitals and insurers, for example -- tend to always need recruits. And areas employers deem critical to their survival, like accounting and information technology, rarely get cut. What's more, some fields, such as bankruptcy law and crisis-management consulting, are thriving because of the downturn.

ENLARGE

Wesley Bedrosian

Health care and education are two industries where hiring is fairly steady, no matter the economy, says
Brendan Courtney,
senior vice president and group executive at Mergis Group, a national staffing firm. "People still keep getting sick, and people still keep going to college," he says. And in some cases, the demand for candidates outstrips the supply.

Medical or teaching degrees aren't necessarily required to get a job in these industries. Like most employers, hospitals and schools need professionals in an array of business areas, including management, finance, communications, information technology and administrative services.

At Kaiser Permanente, a nonprofit health-care system with 36 hospitals across the U.S., 16,000 to 18,000 positions typically open up every year and will continue to do so in 2009, says
Jason Phillips,
vice president of national recruitment services. Though most of those vacancies are for medical professionals, around one-third are filled with job hunters with business backgrounds, he says.

In education, teachers are sorely needed at public schools throughout the nation, says Michelle Hudgins, senior press officer for the National Education Association in Washington, D.C. Some school districts are even offering to pay recruits' student loans to entice candidates, she adds. Still, low wages -- the average starting salary for public-school teachers in 2006-2007 was $35,284 according to the American Federation of Teachers -- deter many professionals from entering the field.

More Layoffs Expected

To be sure, vacancies in even relatively resilient sectors are less prevalent today than they were even a year ago. And while employers have already eliminated nearly two million jobs in 2008, more are expected to downsize their work forces next year. In particular, the hiring outlook is anticipated to remain bleak in areas like financial services, real estate and manufacturing. But by focusing on sectors that offer the best prospects, job hunters and career-changers may be able to boost their odds of success.

Besides education and health care, insurance is another reliable industry, says
Robert Hartwig,
an economist and president of the Insurance Information Institute, a trade group based in New York. "Insurance is not a discretionary purchase," he says. People always need coverage in case of natural disasters, health-care expenses and auto accidents, for example.

Many insurers will assist recruits in obtaining necessary licenses and certifications, adds Mr. Hartwig. What's more, many jobs in the insurance industry use skills that are prevalent in fields like corporate finance, law and customer service, making a switch more feasible. "The industry hires people with enormously diverse backgrounds and at all levels of experience," says Mr. Hartwig.

Industry experience isn't required to land a job at Travelers Cos., an insurer with 165 U.S. locations and 33,000 employees. "We look across the board for people who are ambitious, collaborative and have great communication skills," says
Matt Hamlet,
vice president of talent acquisition. Based in St. Paul, Minn., the company regularly has openings for prospective and experienced underwriters, actuaries and claims adjusters, he says.

There are also key areas where businesses -- including those that are struggling -- can't go without help, says
Jon Zion,
president of eastern U.S. operations at staffing firm
Robert Half International
Inc.
"There's still work to be done," he says. "And in bad times, [some] functions become even more essential."

Information technology is one such area, says Mr. Zion. Indeed, there are more than 62,000 employment ads currently listed on the technology job site Dice.com. IT positions are plentiful -- even at companies that outsource jobs overseas. Systems administrators, network security specialists and help-desk technicians are still in demand, says Mr. Zion.

Certain areas of business are also kept well-staffed. Accountants in particular are highly coveted, says Mr. Zion, because employers rely on them to manage their financial systems, file their taxes and handle other tasks that are imperative no matter the economy. A recent search for accounting jobs at CareerBuilder.com -- staff, tax and cost accounting positions -- produced more than 28,000 ads. Internal auditor, credit-collections specialist and operations analyst are other finance roles that many employers place a premium on, adds Mr. Zion.

Engineers in Demand

Engineering is another promising area for job hunters, says
Art Lucas,
chief executive officer of Lucas Group, a global recruiting firm. "Companies still need people who can come in and design products," he says. "The manufacturing process also needs to be efficient, so people who have those technical engineering skills are always in demand." Most sought-after are those who specialize in environmental, biomedical, civil, aerospace and industrial engineering, he adds.

More engineering jobs also are likely to open up in the next year or so, thanks to a proposed stimulus by the incoming presidential administration that will focus on improving infrastructure.

Some employers say they plan to fill more than just vacancies that occur in these critical areas in 2009. They also intend to create more positions and hope to benefit from the current job market's vast talent pool. Among them is SRI International, a nonprofit based in Menlo Park, Calif., that specializes in engineering, public policy, life science and technology research. "This is a really good opportunity for us to grow," says
Jeanie Tooker,
vice president of human resources. SRI will add about 100 new positions next year, mainly for research engineers, bioscientists, computer scientists, education researchers and software developers, she says.

Job hunters are also likely to find newly added positions at organizations that flourish in economic downturns, such as crisis-management companies, universities, career-services providers and law firms that specialize in bankruptcy.

New York-based CRG Partners Group LLC, which helps struggling businesses improve their operating and financial performance, has seen its revenue double in the past six months, says
Stephen Gray,
senior managing partner. "Demand for our services increases when companies get in trouble," he says. The company has offices in nine U.S. cities and plans to expand its 100-person work force by up to 50% over the next six months, says Mr. Gray. Openings will be at all career levels, mainly for consultants, analysts and managers, and the firm has no plans to eliminate these positions when the economy rebounds, he adds.

School Still an Option

If you aren't skilled in any of the areas that offer steady job prospects, it might be time to consider going back to school -- particularly if you are in a field that is in decline. Not only will these types of jobs remain promising career options by the time you graduate, there may even be more available. The accounting, information technology, actuarial-science and health-care fields are expected to grow faster than the 7% to 13% average rate for all occupations by 2016, according to the Labor Department.

To help supply the expanding biotechnology sector with talent, North Carolina State University launched the Biomanufacturing Training and Education Center in 2007, says
Rick Lawless,
associate director of strategic support. Located in Raleigh, N.C., it's also where big pharmaceutical companies
Novartis
Corp.
and
Merck
& Co. Inc. are in the midst of building new biomanufacturing plants slated for completion in 2010. Mr. Lawless says about 500 jobs are expected to open up as a result.

Corrections and Amplifications The Biomanufacturing Training and Education Center was launched by North Carolina State University. The school's name was incorrectly given as Carolina State University in a previous version of this article.

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